NEIL LENNON has warned his Celtic stars they won’t line up against AC Milan unless they give 100 per cent against Hearts.

The Hoops boss is first to admit his side’s domestic form was patchy during last season’s Champions League campaign.

Now he’s told his players he won’t let them take their eyes off the ball again. And if they don’t perform in the Premiership they could well put themselves out of European contention.

“I’m looking to go with a strong team against Hearts,” Lennon insisted. “I don’t want to drop any points, I don’t want to lose any games in the league.

“I want to go into Milan with our confidence up after a decent performance at Tynecastle.

“Last season, I got the feeling that maybe some of the players were saving themselves for the Champions League games.

“I’ve made it pretty clear if I detect that this year then there is a distinct possibility they won’t play in the Champions League. Now, I’m not giving ultimatums out. I just think it’s important they play at full steam in the league games. They’ve got plenty of time to recover – Sunday, Monday and Tuesday.”

Lennon, who could give a debut to Teemu Pukki at Tynecastle, also confirmed new signing Steven Mouyokolo has snapped an Achilles tendon and will be out for about six months.

He said: “It may be important to bring someone in.

“It’s a devastating blow for Steven. It’s a clean rupture, which is good. So he’s going to be in a pod for about a month or two. But the physios are pretty confident he’ll be back in the new year at some stage.”

Lennon will head to Italy after his trip to the capital to spy on AC Milan against Torino.

Now, I’m not giving ultimatums out. I just think it’s important they play at full steam in the league games

Neil Lennon

“It’s important you watch them live,” he said. “You have to be able to see how they set up defensively and what they’re like on the counter-attack. You look at how the forward players interact with each other.”

Israeli international Nir Biton will dash to Turkey on Monday to get his work permit finalised so he can go into the squad for Wednesday’s clash with Milan.

Lennon said: “It’s been a bit long-winded. But, with him being away with his national team, we haven’t been able to get a hold of his passport.

“Now we have it, we can get the visa done and get him up and running. He’ll be available for the game in midweek.”